ABSTRACT
The brain-damaging and often fatal consequences of listeric infections in high-risk groups are of serious concern. They evidently have not been cultivated in cell cultures and have not been reported to cause foodborne or waterborne disease elsewhere. Knowledge of the true incidence of food-associated viral gastroenteritis is limited by inability to cultivate the causative agents in laboratory cell cultures. They are a frequent cause of juvenile diarrhea and are also known to affect the elderly and to cause occasional community outbreaks of water-associated gastroenteritis. Although not a common cause of human infection, Listeria monocytogenes is responsible for many deaths in certain high risk populations. Hence, substantially more research is required to obtain the information needed to fully evaluate the problem of L. monocytogenes in foods. Existing isolation procedures are too long or are not sufficiently sensitive in recovering injured Listeria from foods.
